Touro University to graduate 400 Monday, Tuesday

Touro University of Vallejo will hold graduation ceremonies for 400 students Monday
and Tuesday at the University of California, Berkeley.

The College of Osteopathic Medicine ceremony begins at 10 a.m., the College of Education
and Health Sciences Ceremony at 7 p.m. Monday in 101 Zellerbach Hall, No. 4800, on
the university campus.

College of Pharmacy ceremony begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday, also in 101 Zellerbach Hall,
No. 4800.

Guests attending the first Monday ceremony will hear guest speaker Dr. Ronald Blanck,
a retired Army lieutenant general and former Surgeon General of the Army and commander
of the U.S. Army Medical Command.

Blanck will share his expertise in military-related issues, including healthcare policies
and programs, as well as health-care strategy development and executive planning and
execution.

He began his military career in 1968 as a medical officer and battalion surgeon in
Vietnam and retired 32 years later as a three-star general. Besides his duty as Surgeon
General of the Army, Blanck also served as commander of Walter Reed Medical Center
North Atlantic Region Medical Command and director of professional services and chief
of Medical Corps Affairs.

During the Tuesday ceremony, graduates will hear remarks from Dr. Jessica Nunez de
Ybarra, who serves as the Chronic Disease Control Branch Chief in the California Department
of Public Health. In 2014, she and a multidisciplinary team authored the “California
Wellness Plan,” the state chronic disease prevention and health promotion plan, to
support and expand upon the priorities of the “Let’s Get Healthy California” Task
Force by creating a detailed road map for CDPH and its partners to promote health,
eliminate preventable chronic disease and promote health equity.

Touro University California is a Jewish nonprofit, independent graduate institution
of higher learning founded in 1997 on three Judaic values: social justice, the pursuit
of knowledge and service to humanity.

According to Andrea Garcia, a spokeswoman for the university, Touro over the years
has been invested in the local community, working to educate future medical and education
professionals, in an effort to make a greater impact in the surrounding areas.

This year’s graduates include more than 400 doctors, pharmacists, educators, physician
assistants, nurses, public health practitioners, and health science professionals.

With local offices and classrooms on Mare Island, the university, home to 1,400 students,
has professional programs in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physician assistant studies,
public health, nursing and education.